


Where Fires Burn, Smoke Rises

by ShortmanWrites



Category: inFAMOUS: Second Son, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Not Beta Read, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26769025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShortmanWrites/pseuds/ShortmanWrites
Summary: In a world of quirks, Izuku Midoriya has always wanted one thing. To be a hero like his idol All Might. Fortunately born with a fusion of his parent's quirks, Izuku can absorb and then discharge smoke at will along with a few extra tricks in his tool bag. But when your power comes from the burning remains of the world around you, one has to take care not to get burned along the way.  Hardships and danger flare up along the path ahead, and Deku will have to take them on if he wants to rise above.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 31
Kudos: 64





	1. Smoldering Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Boku No Hero Academia is a product of Kohei Horikoshi and I make no claims of ownership. This is purely a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only.  
> Likewise,  
> Infamous: Second Son is a product of Sucker Punch Studios and I make no claims of ownership. This is purely a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only.

The problem, as Izuku Midoriya saw it, started the day his quirk came in. He was sitting outside during recess while in pre-school the day it kicked in. Like any other 4-year-old, he was eager to find out what his quirk was going to be. When 80% of the world’s population had powers ranging from the mundane to the extraordinary and you had the imagination of a child, the sky’s the limit. Part of him hoped for some version of his mom’s quirk: Minor Telekinesis but stronger. Being able to move things with just his mind seemed super neat, but then again his dad’s fire breathing quirk would be amazing too, besides lots of heroes had fire based quirks such as Endeavor and he was the #2 hero! But the important thing to him was that it had to be a cool quirk. Something as awesome as the quirk his best friend Katsuki Bakugou had. Explosion. Now that was a quirk for a hero, and everyone, from students to teachers agreed that it was strong. Bakugou was the coolest in his eyes so if he approved then they could be heroes together just like All Might the undisputed #1 hero.

“Oi Deku!” shouted Bakugou from across the playground. “You coming or not!”

“B-be right there Kacchan!” Izuku responded back as he ran over to Bakugou and the others by the swing set.

He didn’t really like Bakugou’s nickname for him, but he knew Bakugou hadn’t come up with it to solely be mean, just to show off his reading skills to the others. But the others in their friend group had latched onto it because it fit weirdly enough. Izuku was always just a little slower at learning new things than the others were. This applied to lots of things, whether it was sports, school or just basic tasks like reading and writing he was “Dekunobu” at everything, unlike Bakugou who either got everything right the first try or before anyone else in their friend group could. It took him just a few weeks with a pencil to go from writing the alphabet to his name. For Izuku it took a lot longer to get the hang of writing his own name so that it looked legible, and even now he couldn’t say or write Bakugou’s first name correctly, hence why he called him “Kacchan.” But even still, Izuku never gave up because giving up was not something heroes do, or so All Might said.Catching up with the rest Izuku said hi and waited for Bakugou to lay out the plan for hide-and-seek.

“So listen up you guys, I’m gonna stay here and count to 20. You guys try and hide, and I’ll catch ya in the next 5 minutes!” decreed Bakugou as if it were certain he was going to win. And with that attitude he probably would.

So Izuku and the three others who had agreed to play at lunch ran off trying to find places to hide. Izuku watched as their bat winged friend Tsubasa took to the skies with his Wing quirk, which he used to fly up and land on the branch of a tree nearby. Another boy named Moru used his quirk: Mole Claws to dig his way through the sand in the sandbox a bit further ahead of the tree and try to bury himself in order to hide. Lastly a girl named Yūrei used her quirk: Dim, to lower the light hitting her and go see through, attempting to hide in plain sight next to the same sandbox. With a twinge of jealousy, and a bit of awe Izuku took off to hide having accidentally wasted a few precious seconds of hiding time.

He had just gotten into a good spot at the top of the slides when he heard a distant “20! Here I come ya losers!” From up top, he had a good view as Bakugou began his hunt. First to get caught was Moru, because as good as a digger as he was nothing stood out more than a giant mound of sand.

“Caught ya Mole-boy!” shouted Bakugou in triumph reaching his hand into the sand pile.

A muffled “Ah man,” could be heard from the sand pile which promptly blew apart as Moru dug his way out. This in turn led to the capture of Yūrei when a blob of sand flew off and landed on her head which appeared at first glance to be floating unless you squinted your eyes to see a 4 year old girl underneath.

“There’s the ghost girl!” said Bakugou with glee tagging the spot he guessed to be her shoulder.

“No fair,” pouted Yūrei “ I would have gotten away with it if you weren’t so messy Moru!” she shrieked while brushing the sand out of her hair.

It took a bit longer to find the next player, which ended up being Tsubasa due to his stomach rumbling of all things. That one almost gave Izuku away too who struggled to contain his laughter as Bakugou looked up in the tree he was circling around to see a blushing Tsubasa.

“Oi, come down from there Batboy! I caught you!”

“Nuh uh” taunted Tsubasa “ You gottsta tag me first!”

“All right have it your way” called back Bakugou who immediately took to climbing up the tree to catch the winged boy.

Halfway up Tsubasa tried to fly away, but sensing this might happen Bakugou quickly used his quirk and made a small explosion to quickly push himself off the tree and grapple Tsubasa ,blasting off a now smoldering piece of bark in the process . Unfortunately for both boys, Tsubasa was not a strong enough of flier to keep them both up in the air so they quickly plummeted back to the earth with a solid THUNK. Forgetting about the game for a second, and more worried for his friends, Izuku quickly slid down the slide and raced over to see if the two were alright. He got there just as Tsubasa had picked himself back up and Bakugou was sitting up checking to make sure he had not gotten his clothes too dirty. If there was one thing Bakugou was, it wasn’t stupid, as he knew his mom would have harsh words if he messed up his outfit. Panting Izuku asked

“You guys okay? *quick breaths*.... That fall looked *gasp* bad.”

“Yeah we’re fine aren’t we Batboy” replied Bakugou to which Tsubasa nodded. “But… it looks like I win” said Bakugou with a grin as he tagged Izuku. “Shouldn’t have left your spot Deku, you maybe could have won!”

“B-but, no fair” said Izuku with the beginnings of tears in his eyes.

“Hey no crying now, jeez” replied Bakugou “Don’t be such a crybaby its just a game.”

“Y-yeah, I guess.” Responded Izuku with his head down. “But I was still the last one you caught at least” he stated looking back up hopefully.

“Yeah you were which means you get to seek next!” exclaimed Bakugou with the others nodding vigorously. Izuku, eager to get started, walked over to the tree to begin counting when his eyes caught the smoking bark lying in the dirt beside him.

For some odd reason he felt an almost magnetic pull towards the smoke, reaching his hand out towards it as if in a trance. He knew from his mother that things that smoked were hot and thus shouldn’t be touched without protection, but he couldn’t help himself. His lack of counting caught the attention of the others who turned to see him reaching out towards the smoke.

“Hey Deku don’t touch that its hot!” shouted Bakugou but it was too late.

To the groups surprise Izuku didn’t recoil from the charcoal like bark and instead watched in amazement as the smoke from the wood swirled around Izuku’s hand and then disappeared into his skin almost like he was a vacuum, leaving behind a dead piece of wood that was no longer smoldering .

“Woah what did you do Deku?’ asked Moru.

“I’m not sure” said Deku. “I think I absurp- absarb-..”

“Absorbed?” suggested Yūrei.

“Yeah that’s the word!” replied Izuku with glee. “I just kinda… pulled it into me.”

“Huh” questioned Bakugou. “What like a sponge? Is that it you can clean up after fires?” he scoffed.

  
“ I’m not sure ye-WOOAH” replied Izuku as he tried to run over to them.

The keyword there being tried. Instead of running, Izuku turned into a cloud of smoke and shot towards them unexpectedly, reforming back into Izuku right before their eyes. “Uhh what?” said Izuku amidst the cries of “Woah” “Cool Deku” “ and “Do it again!” the last one being from Bakugou of course.

“I don’t know how I did that” replied Izuku who took a step and immediately dashed past them as a cloud of smoke, reappearing behind them near the slide. “Woah, woah stop, stop!” screeched Izuku who’s stomach very much didn’t like this sudden lurching every time his quirk shot him forward . He turned back to the group and got 2 steps before he suddenly Smoke Dashed forward again, this time reappearing mid-step and tripping in front of the group.

“Jeez, one minute with his quirk and Deku’s already figured out how to make himself fall over” Bakugou teased while reaching his hand out to pull Izuku up as the others laughed.

“H-hey, you try walking when you’re made of smoke” Izuku replied embarrassed at having fallen over.

“Well so you can dash at least that’s something new that none of us can do” Bakugou said as he gestured to the group “ but is that all you can do ? If you can absorb it maybe you can throw it back too” he suggested.

“I’m not sure let me try” replied Izuku suddenly serious.

If he focused he could almost sense the smoke he absorbed. It was hard to explain but he felt it sitting inside of his body and so he tried to focus it pulling the smoke inside towards his hands. Black smoke started to appear around his hands forming a dark yet glistening sphere , but in his excitement Izuku lost control and let go, dropping the condensed ball at their feet which suddenly expanded into a cloud of smoke causing a coughing fit amongst the trio before him.

“Ooops I’m sorry guys I-I didn’t mean to” Izuku tried to say, seemingly unaffected by the smoke in the air.

“*Gack*- what the hell Deku watch what you’re *cough*doing” replied Bakugou through his coughs. Likewise Tsubasa replied

“I can’t *cough* breathe cuz *wheeze* of your dumb* cough* quirk.”

Meanwhile, Yūrei was off to the side retching as she tried to get breaths of fresh air.

“I’m so sorry” pleaded Izuku to deaf ears.

It was at this point that the teachers arrived, having been alerted by the sounds of the children coughing, and then further alarmed by the smoke lingering in the air above them.

“What’s going on here ?” asked Ms. Tamaki with worry.

“ It- it’s my fault my quirk came in and I hit them with a smoke bomb.. I swear I didn’t mean it” Izuku pleaded now really about to cry.

“Smoke Bomb? Is that your quirk Izuku?” questioned Mr. Yamaguchi while Tamaki-sensei tended to the others whose coughing had begun to die down.

“Not exactly sir, I’m not s-sure what my quirk is. I.. uh absorbed some smoke into me a minute ago and now I can dash around and make smoke bombs” said Izuku timidly.

“Well now that certainly seems like an interesting quirk young man, but we can’t go around throwing smoke bomb at our friends now can we?’ Responded Yamaguchi- sensei.

“B-but I didn’t throw” began Izuku only to be interrupted by Tamaki-sensei who was now back from checking on the others

“Izuku you need to apologize to your friends, breathing in smoke isn’t a good thing.”she stated

“I- I said sorry. I’m still not sure how I did that I didn’t want to hurt them” said Izuku cowering beneath the look of his two teachers.

“Well,” sighed Yamaguchi “ at least you know its not okay to use your quirk on others, and these three look fine now” he said gesturing to Bakugou, Moru, and Yūrei. “But I’m still going to have to call your mother to come pick you up.”

“What?!” shouted Izuku now truly afraid that his quirk had gotten him in trouble, tear geysers in full effect.

“You’re not in trouble since you say it was an accident but it’s a good idea for your mommy to come get you and take you to a quirk doctor so you can get it registered and hopefully get a better hang of it so accidents like this don’t happen again okay?’ responded Tamaki-sensei as she tried to calm Izuku down.

“Oh- okay” sniffled Izuku calming down some. As Yamaguchi sensei began to hurdle the other kids back inside the school Izuku heard a familiar voice.

“Hey Deku get your quirk looked at so you can now how to use it dummy” shouted Bakugou looking back “ Cuz we’re gonna be heroes right?” he said through a big grin.

“Yeah we are!” replied Izuku the past fear and anxiousness now replaced with hope.

He could not wait to go to the doctor and learn more about his strange but exciting quirk. As he sat beside Ms. Tamaki outside waiting for his mother he was optimistic, and he had every right to be because he did not and could not know the difficulty of the years to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this idea sitting around in my head for a while about Izuku but with the smoke powers from the game Infamous: Second Son. I've always liked the idea of Izuku getting his parent's quirks and thought it would serve as a fun fusion of the two. It's my first time writing so I'm not sure how long I can keep up the momentum, but I hope to make this a series.  
> Feedback and criticism welcome :)
> 
> Qurik Name:???  
> Qurik Type:???  
> Abilities: Smoke Dash, Smoke Drain, ???
> 
> *No, you're not crazy if you're reading this after October 10th I deleted the original end note because it was appearing on every chapter. I tried to rewrite it from memory, but I'm liable to have missed something. Hopefully it just appears on this 1st chapter now*


	2. Of Quirks and Theories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After receiving a call from Izuku's pre-school Inko takes her son to the quirk doctor to learn more about his quirk and figure out how it all works.

Inko Midoriya was a naturally nervous woman, so when her son’s pre-school called her, the poor woman’s heart rate went through the roof as she excused herself from her desk at work. As a secretary at a law firm she did not want to be seen losing her composure in front of any potential clients or heaven forbid, the partners at the firm. Once in the hallway she answered her phone and immediately inquired about the safety of her son. After numerous assurances from Yamaguchi-sensei on other end of the line that her precious baby was alive and in good health, she moved her line of questioning to the matter at hand.

“Well if he’s safe is there a problem at his school?” Inko questioned apprehensively.

“Oh, no, no” he responded “but we do need you to come pick up your son as soon as possible. There was an … incident with his quirk today and we believe it would be in his best inter-” but, he was cut off by Inko’s interjection.

“His quirk?! It came in and I MISSED IT!”she screeched into the receiver.

She was both disappointed that her baby’s first quirk use had gone by without her and yet at the same time, she was eager to find out which of their quirks Izuku took after, her’s or her husband’s. She and her husband, Hisashi Midoriya, had a bit of a competitive streak when it came to their son’s milestones. So far, her husband had gotten two wins as far as she was concerned. The first being the witness to their son’s first steps, and the second hearing his first word. Meanwhile, she also had two wins to her name, the first being Izuku learning to say “Mama” before “Dada” and secondly being the one who finally got Izuku to give up diapers in favor of potty training. If Izuku’s quirk took after her that would be another point for her in their invisible score chart and an end to their current tie. 

“Yes, his quirk m’am,” Yamaguchi continued “I’m not sure exactly what it is, but he should see a specialist right away to get it classified and gain a better understanding of it. It won’t do for Izuku to be causing his classmates to breathe in smoke everyday” he finished firmly.

“Smoke?!’ exclaimed Inko, now worried that Izuku had started a fire. With a sigh, Inko asked “So Izuku has his dad’s fire breath huh?” already mentally adding the tally to her husband’s score.

“Well no,” responded Yamaguchi , “your son seems to throw smoke bombs around and is currently darting in circles around Ms. Tamaki as a cloud of smoke.” A moment of silence passed before a deafening “HUH?!” came out of the line. 

  
An hour and many phone calls to find someone to cover her shift at work later, Inko Midoriya found herself in the parking lot of her son’s pre-school. Exiting the vehicle, she began making her way over to the front entrance all the while pondering what Yamaguchi had said on the phone about her son’s quirk. It seemed very different from both of his parent’s quirks at first glance but, the only way to know for sure would be seeing the quirk doctor. She had booked an appointment with one later today on the car ride over. She was beginning to fret over how fireproof she may or may not have to make their apartment as she reached the school's main entrance. On the front steps she found her son and his teacher.

“Mama, look my quirk came in!” shouted Izuku before promptly exploding into a mass of smoke and dashing over to his mother. “I don’t know what to name my quirk yet but I’m calling that move – ah- Smoke Dash” he said proudly while suppressing a yawn. While certainly a strange sight for the young mother to see her child turn into a dark cloud, she was a bit more prepared to handle it thanks to the heads up from Izuku’s teacher.

“That’s great sweety! Then I take it you’re ready to go see the quirk doctor and give it a proper name?” she said with a soft smile which got a tired sounding “Yeah” from young Izuku. Hand in hand the two waved their goodbyes to Ms. Tamaki and walked back to Inko’s car.

Thirty minutes later, in which Izuku took a nap while his mother drove, Inko and her son were greeted by the receptionist and asked to wait in the lobby while the doctor finished their prior appointment. Izuku took this opportunity to dash around in circles, tiring himself out by breaking down his body into smoke and resolidifying after a few short seconds. After four dashes he once again decided to take a quick nap.

 _Well he seems to have a good feel for his quirk at least but that’s twice now he’s taken a nap after using Smoke Dash_ thought Inko . _Is his quirk sapping his energy? I do hope he’s alright. I also wonder how he’s transforming his clothes. Thank god he doesn’t leap out of his clothes while doing that. That would be an absolute nightmare if his quirk acted up while in public. Not to mention cleaning bills. Oh my gosh how DO you get soot out of fabric? Or walls for that matter. Am I going to have to get industrial strength cleaning supplies? That’s going to eat into our budget._ She thought, her anxiety kicking into high gear

This inner monologue of concern over future problems would go on for another thirty minutes. Deep in thought she almost missed her and Izuku being called forward to meet with the doctor until she felt her son tugging on her hand.

“C’mon mama I wanna find out more about my quirk” Izuku pleaded, mustering the biggest puppy eyes he could manage. Inko giggled

“Yes, all right it is what we came here for after all” she said to Izuku who was practically vibrating with energy.

His positivity instantly brightened up her mood, pushing the worry out of her mind. Standing up she and Izuku went off to meet his quirk doctor. The doctor, a woman of about Inko’s age, introduced herself as Dr. Celia Penderghast-Shi before sitting Izuku and his mother in her office.

“So I hear young Izuku here just manifested his quirk today?” she said while simultaneously using her quirk: Paper to summon the sheets of paper from her desk which contained Izuku’s medical file with just a flick of her wrist.

“Uh huh,” responded Izuku, distracted for a moment by the woman’s quirk, admiring the way the papers floated around her, elegantly weaving past each other without colliding.

Spotting this the woman smiled kindly at Izuku before having the papers fold themselves mid-air and re-arrange themselves into a floating question mark and then a circle with a smiley face in the center. With Izuku too busy giggling at the display, Inko decided to answer for him.

“Yes, that’s right although Izuku will have to describe it to you himself once he stops laughing. I am not quite sure what it is since it does not seem to be similar to either mine or my husband’s quirk. From what I have heard from his teachers today, Izuku is able to make smoke bombs and I’ve witnessed for myself that he can voluntarily turn his whole body into smoke and move around in that form for a few seconds." She answered. Taking a second to breath she added "He also seems to get tired out after doing this a couple times.”

Izuku took this opportunity to demonstrate Smoke Dash getting behind the doctor before dashing back to his seat. 

“Well that is certainly an interesting quirk,” Dr. Penderghast-Shi noted while looking over Izuku’s file. “From what I understand you have a form of telekinesis Mrs. Midoriya?’ she inquired. Inko responded in the affirmative while simultaneously using her own quirk to levitate one of Izuku’s toys, a small robot, out of her bag with small hand movements.

“My quirk is in the emitter class, but it only works on small objects less than a kilogram. I can only pull them as well. Not throw them as Izuku can apparently.” she stated.

“Well, I couldn’t really throw it mama” pouted Izuku “It was an accident, I was trying to gather the smoke inside me but I dropped it.” He said with his head down.

“That’s okay Izuku but could you explain to me and the nice doctor what exactly happened so we can help you? What do you mean by the smoke inside? ” Inko questioned.

“Yeah ok” responded Izuku, who proceeded to explain to the two women the story of the hide-and-seek game and his quirk’s awakening up until his mother’s appearance.Of interest to the doctor was how Izuku described his ability to pull smoke into his body and seemingly breathe it in without harm. 

“Mrs. Midoriya your husband has a fire breathing quirk yes?”

Inko nodded.

“Do you know if he falls under ‘Transformation’ type or ‘Emitter?” Doctor Penderghast-Shi asked flipping through the file.

“I believe he falls under Transformation type actually” Inko answered. “I remember him telling me once about a great-grandfather who had the head of a dragon and how his quirk descends from his, but in a lesser state as it only transforms his throat.”

Dr. Penderghast-Shi nodded, a theory beginning to form in her mind.

“I see, well with most fire related quirks the user has some form of fire resistance built into their body ,whether it be minor or major, as a quirk factor. Quirk factors of course being the subsystems in the body that allow one’s quirk to function. ” Dr. Penderghast-Shi supplied. “If I were to guess your husband’s quirk factor gives his body’s cells the ability to absorb thermal energy so that his throat or stomach doesn’t get burned when he uses his quirk. It may be that Izuku’s quirk is actually a mixture of aspects of both of your quirks." she stated excitedly. "One that gives his body’s cells this same thermal absorption ability but now coupled with your minor telekinesis to pull smaller forms of matter to him. In this case, Izuku’s quirk pulls in smoke which I believe is mostly hot vapor mixed with carbon particles in the form of soot and ash."

"I see" stated Inko, before the doctor continued.

"The smoke transformation is also probably an aspect of your husband’s quirk if they are both transformation type as I suspect. A common side effect for new Transformation quirk users is low stamina after using their quirk for the first time and this can be easily remedied with time and usage. Really your son’s quirk is quite remarkable, you and your husband must be proud.” She finished with beaming smile. Inko blushed under the compliment.

“Well that would certainly explain Izuku’s quirk and lack of energy” Inko said. Mentally she added a point back to her side of the scoreboard, bringing them up to three each. _I suppose I can live with a tie_ she thought. “So what happens now?” Inko, asked curiously.

“Well now we’ll head over to the quirk testing labs down the hall to test his quirk to see what his limits are and afterwards give it name. How does that sound Izuku?” Dr. Penderghast-Shi said while looking down at the boy before her.

Izuku, for his part had struggled to keep up with some of the bigger words, but got the gist of it: he could turn into/absorb smoke thanks to his parent’s quirks and now it was time to test it out. He was practically jumping up and down in his chair.

“Yes m’am! Let’s go right now!” Izuku responded Smoke dashing over to the office door eager to begin testing his quirk. He flung it open, turning to his left, and running down the hallway while his mother and the doctor chuckled to themselves at his energy.

“You may want to tell him that the labs are on the right side of my office Mrs. Midoriya.” The doctor eeked out through her giggles.

“Oh dear, he is certainly excited” answered Inko trying to suppress her own developing snicker as both ladies followed Izuku out the door.

The testing lab looked to the Midoriyas like a combination gym/medical office. A gracious space with walls painted sky blue that was twice the size of their apartment. It contained a bed, a treadmill, a pile of weights, some punching bags, and a few targets painted on the wall with distance markers on the floor at every meter. In addition, various sensors and medical equipment lined the left wall. In this lab, Izuku was given a basic medical exam without his quirk in effect. One in which his doctor measured his resting heart rate, examined his trachea with a tongue depressor and used a stethoscope to check his breathing. She was pleased to see that all was normal which from Izuku’s story seemed to indicate that he suffered no permanent damage to his lungs from breathing in smoke.

_Hmm. His quirk most likely protects the user from the effects of smoke inhalation_ she theorized.

She then proceeded to get samples of Izuku’s cells for testing. This included a lock of hair, saliva ,and blood of course. All of which Dr. Penderghast-Shi only took after receiving permission from both the boy and his mother. For Izuku, his excitement was so great he did not even cry(much) when the needle entered his arm.

“Thank you for being patient Izuku” Dr. Penderghast-Shi said “ but with this we can establish a baseline for your overall health and additionally test the various cells in your body to see how your body has reacted on a cellular level after coming into contact with smoke.”

Placing a droplet of his blood under a microscope she examined it and found that his blood cells seemed slightly larger than she may have expected. Normally a red blood cell was 6-8 micrometers thick but Izuku’s were closer to 9 micrometers with this extra space containing this black discoloration that she suspected to be the “smoke inside” Izuku had mentioned earlier. But, aside from that, his cells seemed perfectly healthy and behaved as one expected to. The same was true for his hair and saliva samples, each with their own black spot.

“Usually breathing in smoke is bad for the body but your cells seem to have adapted to it and grown slightly to actually store the smoke inside your body." She began. "The slight discoloration in your blood appears very similar to carbon present in cell samples of people that have been exposed to smoke and fire, but with none of the typical damage” she said cheerfully. “With that out of the way let’s see what else your quirk can do, firstly do you think you could demonstrate the smoke bomb you made earlier this afternoon Izuku?” the doctor asked.

"Uh sure, I think so, but…” Izuku hesitated “ it did create a big cloud of smoke around us and I don’t think I can control where it goes. A hero saves people, not hurt them and I don’t wanna hurt anyone” Izuku stated.

“Of course you don’t, and thank you for your concern young man” Dr. Penderghast-Shi answered. “Let me take care of that real quick” as she used her quirk to summon what seemed to be coffee filters from one of the nearby cabinets.

To Izuku’s amazement the paper broke down into a kind of pulp before being reformed into smaller, nearly transparent sheets of paper which stacked together until they could no longer be seen through and then folded themselves into a shape resembling a face mask. This process was repeated a second time to create a mask for Mrs. Midoriya as well. Dr. Penderghast-Shi explained to the fascinated Izuku: 

“My quirk lets me not only control paper but to reconstruct it in any form that I wish including its size, thickness and porousness. I broke down these coffee filters into their basic fibers and then created new sheets of paper of 1 micrometer thickness and created a new filter on the level found in your typical gas mask." She stated as Izuku nodded along. "Under a microscope you would see that oxygen molecules can now pass through this mask but thicker molecules, like those found in smoke, can’t get in.” She offered cheerfully. 

As she explained this, she pulled out 2 pairs of protective eyewear for herself and Mrs. Midoriya to see through. Now that Izuku was reasonably sure of their safety he took a step back keeping his eyes on the targets across the room about 5 meters away. He imagined the ball of smoke he had made earlier with his friends and tried to throw one at the targets. But nothing happened at all. His quirk would not respond to his command….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger folks but I just couldn't resist. To be honest this chapter went on a bit longer than I was expecting, but I wanted to do a little exploring of Inko's character as a young parent and how one would react to the idea that your kid has a super power you weren't quite expecting. So this chapter mainly serves to explain what Izuku's quirk is and where it came from along with a tiny bit of world building. Next chapter will be the break down of Izuku's basic powers and tests of their limitations. Though I will say this, since he is 4, Izuku won't have access to every move in the Smoke tree just yet. For now we'll focus on the basics of the Smoke ability and what a 4 year old would be reasonably expected to discover/do and finally give it a name.  
> If you were fortunate enough to play the ill fated expansion for Second Son: Paper Trail before the online portion was gutted, you'll recognize the name of the doctor in this fic and her quirk: Paper. Though I added- Shi to her last name as a play on her ability and its name in Japanese. 
> 
> Name: Izuku Midoriya  
> Quirk Name: ???  
> Quirk Type: Transformation/Emitter Hybrid  
> Abilities: Smoke Drain, Smoke Dash, ???
> 
> *October 10th update. I just changed the word pound to kilogram. Japan uses the metric system after all and I think I keep it in metric for the rest of the fic.*


	3. Testing the limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku tests his quirk at the doctor's office.

Izuku felt around inside for the smoke he had stored up only now he noticed it was much smaller than it had felt back at the playground. He tried holding it in place as he had earlier that day, in his mind picturing the ball of smoke in his hand. But, try as he might, he could not get the smoke ball to come back out again.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” Inko asked, a bit concerned at the look of frustration on her son’s face.

“I.. I don’t know M-mama” Izuku stuttered out. “It was working earlier but… but now I can’t do it!” Izuku wailed out on the verge of tears.

“Oh, it’s okay Izuku, just breathe and focus. I know you’ll figure it out” Inko offered patiently, remembering her own first experience at using her quirk and how confusing it could be for a child when you didn’t have full control of your quirk. “Can you still dash around honey?” Inko suggested, hoping to calm Izuku’s nerves.

“Uhh- I think so” replied Izuku who promptly burst into a cloud of smoke that traveled less than a meter before resolidifying into the same green-haired child Inko knew. “Ok so yeah, that *yawn* works” said Izuku now a bit less frazzled but slightly tired. Feeling around for his smoke levels he found they seemed unchanged from the start of the test.“I don’t get it Mama. My Smoke Dash still works, and I didn’t even use up any smoke, but I still can’t make the smoke bomb? I swear I can do it.” Izuku said, hoping either woman present would have a solution. It was Izuku’s middle statement that caught the attention of his doctor, that about not using any smoke.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s the third Smoke Dash you’ve performed since we’ve met young man” stated Dr. Penderghast-Shi as she rummaged around in a nearby drawer for an energy bar to give to the boy. “How many times can you do that before you need to take a nap Izuku?” the doctor asked.

“Uh, 4 I think” was the response as Izuku thought back over his day and how his fatigue seemed to kick in after a fourth dash.

“Alright, so go ahead and eat this, it will replenish your stamina just a little and we’ll continue in a moment after we talk this through” Dr. Penderghast-Shi said offering the energy bar to young Izuku. While the boy was happily munching on his new snack, Dr. Penderghast-Shi spoke with the two Midoriyas, laying out a set of notes for Izuku’s time at the office.

“So I have two observations about Izuku’s quirk” she began “First is that the transformation ability doesn’t seemed to be tied to the level of smoke in Izuku’s system but more so into his stamina. This would be why he gets tired so easily but can still use the dash ability while simultaneously lacking the smoke to reproduce his smoke bombs. Possibly Izuku will need to replenish his smoke levels somehow to recreate his smoke bomb or try for something that requires less smoke. More on that in a moment.” The quirk expert stated two as the Midoriyas nodded along. “The second is that Izuku also seems to transform his clothes when he Smoke Dashes. So obviously Izuku’s quirk extends to transform inorganic matter as well as himself. That’s rare for Transformation type quirks but not unheard of. We will want to see if Izuku can carry more than just the clothes on his back while in his smoke form and whether this imposes any limits on his Smoke Dash. Afterwards we should see if his quirk can also extend to other people as well." She finished.

“H-how would we test that idea exactly?” Inko asked, worried that Izuku would have to use his ability while holding onto someone as a lab rat. _If his quirk does affect others and leaves them unharmed that’s great but if it doesn’t ,and something happens to the other subject, he’ll be devastated._ She thought to herself.

“No worries Mrs. Midoriya, it’s a relatively safe test,” Dr. Penderghast-Shi stated with a mild chuckle, almost reading the mind of the nervous looking mother before her.

"Really?" responded Inko, with mild surprise.

“Yes, although it won’t come without some harsh words from my stylist” sighed the Doctor as she used her quirk to create a narrow blade made entirely of paper that delicately sliced off 8 cm worth of hair from either side of her head. As she got up to sweep them into a bag she began to speak to the two greenettes.

“Standard procedure for the rare Transformation Quirks that affect materials besides the user is to see how they affect organic material that isn’t their own.” she explained. “So, we can use my hair rather than a full living being.

Inko sighed in relief.

"Once Izuku is feeling energized we can try a few tests: the first where Izuku Smoke Dashes with one of the lighter gym weights tied against his leg and gives us his comparison between that and a normal Smoke Dash." The doctor continued. "Once this is done, we can repeat this but with the weight being held farther out from his body with a ribbon connecting the two. This will confirm whether Izuku’s quirk is limited to things in direct contact with his person or if it has a range to it." She paused for a moment. "The final test will have Izuku holding a few strands of my hair in one hand to see how his Smoke Dash affects organic material. Afterwards we can try to figure out how to replenish Izuku’s smoke stores or lower how much smoke he uses.” Doctor Penderghast-Shi finished with a nod from both Midoriyas. Now with a plan laid out before them Izuku quickly wolfed down the last bit of the energy bar eager to begin testing in earnest. 

“Mrs. Midoriya if you would, would you kindly select a weight for your son?” asked the doctor, who was busy using her quirk to create a strong ribbon of paper.

Inko nodded and approached the set of weights in the corner of the room. Inspecting the weights, she eliminated the ones that would be too heavy for even her to lift and narrowed it down to two options. One weight that was 2.27 kilograms (approximately 5 lbs) and one that was 0.45 kilograms (about 1 pound.) Deciding that the lighter one would be heavy enough for her 4-year-old son she opted to use her quirk to carry that weight back to the doctor who had just finished crafting the paper ribbon.

“Excellent Mrs. Midoriya if you would use this to tie the weight to your son’s leg” said Dr. Penderghast-Shi handing off the paper ribbon.

After a moment, the weight was attached and Izuku walked a few tentative steps away from the ladies. He felt slightly off balance with the weight but other than that felt fine. Focusing for a second, Izuku tried Smoke Dashing. It worked and he reappeared with the weight intact a few moments later about half a meter from where he started. Only this time rather than the near instantaneous jump the ladies were used to seeing, it seemed that the smoke cloud that was Izuku traveled slightly slower taking up to 2 seconds between his breakdown into smoke and reformation.

“Alright so how did that feel Izuku?” asked the Doctor. Izuku thought for a moment before responding

“I don’t feel more tired, but I did feel slower and less _me_ I guess.”

“Could you elaborate on that, less _me_?” Dr. Penderghast-Shi asked.

“Yeah whenever I Smoke Dash I feel myself break apart into lots of little pieces.” Seeing the alarm on both their faces he added “B-bbut its not a bad feeling! I feel smaller but also lighter when I move. Its hard to tell what’s up and what’s down or what’s around me” Izuku stated. “I don’t think I can stay like that for long, but luckily I go back to normal in no time and I know where everything is again when my feet touch the ground.” Izuku stated cheerfully.

"Well that's good" Inko chuckled nervously. 

“But when I Smoke Dashed with the weight just now, I felt like I was in more pieces than normal, and I couldn’t really connect to those extra pieces. I felt like I was moving through sand before I went back to normal.” Izuku finished.

“Alright” began the doctor “from our perspective you certainly seemed slower so it would stand to reason that added mass does affect the time it takes for you to travel in your smoke form. But I am glad to see it doesn’t make you more tired” she smiled sweetly at the young boy. “Do you feel ready for the next test?” Izuku nodded.

Inko adjusted the weight such that it was tied to Izuku’s right leg but laying on the ground about a meter away. Izuku readied himself and focused on Smoke Dashing. For the first time he felt himself struggle to break apart feeling a great pressure holding him in place. His attempts to turn into smoke were short lived as he turned into smoke but did not move from his starting position.

 _Its like there’s an anchor on me._ Izuku thought.

He relayed this feeling to Dr. Penderghast-Shi who suggested moving slightly closer to the weight. Izuku took a step closer but felt the same pressure. He continued inching closer to the weight until at last, when he was in arms reach of the weight, with his fingers brushing the weight, was he suddenly able to Smoke Dash properly. The weight and the ribbon attached landed with a clatter when they and Izuku reformed half a meter away.

“Hmm, it would seem that **there** is a proximity component to your quirk as well. It looks like you can’t move while trying to take anything that isn’t in within your physical grasp.” Dr. Penderghast noted, while writing it in Izuku's file.

Inko proceeded to remove the weight from her son’s leg.

“Now onto the final test for Smoke Dash” the doctor stated while handing Izuku some strands of her hair.

Once again Izuku took a step away from the doctor and his mother before attempting to Smoke Dash. Try as he might however, he couldn’t seem to make any headway. His power could be seen to flare briefly, his hands giving puffs of smoke similar to a dying car engine on its last legs. Nevertheless, Izuku stayed where he was, unable to complete a full transformation and Smoke Dash.

“Well there you have it, your transformation effects can affect other objects within your grasp physically but not when in contact with other people” the doctor stated firmly.

 _Well I guess he can’t smoke dash away when I drag him to the bathtub nor can he accidentally teleport with someone into a wall_ thought a relieved Inko.

Izuku for his part was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t carry people to safety with his quirk, but he wasn’t about to let that deter him from his dream of being a hero.

“Now Izuku, I know you can imagine how big the smoke bomb you made earlier was, but can you picture how much smoke that used up?” asked Dr. Penderghast-Shi. Izuku thought for a moment.

 _It was a lot more than I have now but there’s still some there. Maybe I can aim for something smaller._ “I can. But I don’t have enough for that. Can I try something?” Izuku asked which received a nod from his doctor who took a step back as Izuku turned to face the wall.

Instead of creating the ball from his imagination Izuku just pictured the smoke inside him. He felt it swirling around, almost like it was eager to be released. Holding his hand in front of him he imagined the smoke traveling to his hand and outward. Just a simple path to release without trying to hold anything in place. This time it worked, and a small black and orange bolt of smoke and embers shot out of his hand before fading out after a few meters.

 _Yes!_ Thought Izuku, while his doctor and mother applauded his demonstration.

“Izuku that was wonderful do you think you can do that again or should we work on replenishing the smoke you have?” asked Dr. Penderghast-Shi. Izuku felt around and judged that the bolt of smoke he had just used had taken up half his smoke in storage.

“I think I can do it one more time. Can I try it on a punching bag?”he asked.

“Please do actually. Each of those punching bags has a pressure sensor built in to let us test enhancer quirk types, so we’ll get a look at how powerful that smoke shot was.” came her response.

 _That’s not a bad name_ Izuku thought excitedly.

Izuku stepped up to the punching bag and let loose his last bit of smoke with his newly minted Smoke Shot. The bolt of smoke struck the punching bag leaving a smear of what seemed to be soot on its front before a display at the top of the punching bag displayed 40 N in red lettering. This meant nothing to Izuku who looked to Dr.Pendeghast-Shi for an explanation.

“The sensor in the punching bag calculates the force it receives from an impact in Newtons. From what I’ve seen with other patients, someone around your age and size should hit around 30 Newtons if you were to punch it without a strength enhancing quirk. You can verify it if you wish” she added with a grin.

Izuku took her challenge and wound up his arm imitating the form he and Bakugou had seen from All Might on the news. Arm reared back he let loose a “devastating” Delaware Smash, hitting the punching bag with as much strength as a 4 year old could muster. After a second the display flashed 31 N.

 _Okay, so my smoke shot is a little stronger than my punch. Cool._ Izuku mused. But now a new problem presented itself.

“I think I’m out of smoke now. So how do I recharge my smoke stores?” Izuku asked aloud.

“Excellent question Izuku” mused Dr. Penderghast-Shi “At this point you’ve had plenty of rest or replenished your stamina through nutrients, but your smoke stores haven’t changed aside from times when you used your emitter abilities correct?” Izuku nodded. “Then most likely you can’t form your own smoke naturally. So, we’ll need an external source. A simple fire should suffice.” This elicited a glare from Mrs. Midoriya who did not want her baby to become a firebug at age 4. “Don’t worry Mrs. Midoriya he won’t be the one making it. I will.” Replied Dr. Penderghast-Shi coolly pulling out a Bunsen burner from under a nearby counter. “But I’ll need you to handle the fire extinguisher. Izuku may absorb smoke but we don’t know if he can suffocate a fire yet.” THe doctor said sternly. 

Inko nodded, grabbing the fire extinguisher from the wall. As she got into position, she thought to herself

_I really hope this doesn’t become a common occurrence._

The doctor placed the burner in a plexiglass container with an open wall facing the trio so as to try to keep the smoke trapped in one location. Above the burner inside the container, she placed a metal stand that consisted of a wire mesh attached to 4 vertical arms. Plugging the burner in and starting a small pilot flame, Dr.Pendeghast-Shi began adding fuel in the form of printer paper which rested on the mesh. The paper ignited, burning until it blackened and gave off wispy, grey streams of smoke. Izuku stepped closer to the smoking debris and held his hand out to it. Feeling the familiar tug of smoke, he willed it to come to him, which seemed to oblige by drifting lazily towards his outstretched hand. Both the doctor and Inko observed with fascinated stares, as the smoke disappeared into Izuku’s skin with a mild orange glow. Each wisp of smoke appeared to be quite small, the size of a postage stamp really, pale with an orange glow from the faint embers nested within. As fast as the fire seemed to make the wisps of smoke, Izuku seemed to drain it away.

“Izuku do you think you can manipulate the fire anyhow?” his doctor asked.

Izuku focused for a moment but felt nothing but the smoke. He couldn’t really sense the flame itself aside from the heat it gave off. He shook his head.

“How about shape, can you adjust the shape of the smoke?” she asked.

Izuku tried to do that, picturing the smiley face his doctor had created with her quirk but with no success. The smoke only proceeded to go from its source to his outstretched hand. Izuku shook his head again.

“Ok last thing how close do you have to be to absorb the smoke?” she asked, eager to see the result.

Izuku started by stepping away from the fire. As he got to a distance of about half a meter away from the smoke, he felt his connection with the smoke break, and he told his mom and the doctor when this occurred. The smoke wisps, no longer being drawn to Izuku began to lazily float upwards from the flame.

_That may be from my quirk_ thought Inko _I can’t pull anything if its farther than 1 meter from me._

“Okay Izuku if you would please continue draining the smoke away” Dr. Pendeghast-Shi instructed. _Luckily I had the foresight to ask my nurses to turn off the smoke detector in this lab after Mrs. Midoriya called._ Thought Dr. Pendeghast-Shi as she tried to avoid the smoke wisps coming off the fire.

Protected as she was from breathing in the smoke, the wisps themselves still gave off a bit of heat and she was starting to build up a sweat. Izuku quickly stepped back towards the fire, pulling the thin wisps back towards him. He continued stepping forward until his hand was just outside the container.

 _Hmm. I don’t really feel the heat coming off the fire, but Mom and the doc look like they’re sweating. I wonder…_ Curious, Izuku stuck his hand into the container directly above the burning paper in the heart of the smoke’s formation.

“IZUKU!?” shouted his mother both distraught and furious to see her son willingly place his hand so close to an open flame.

His hand was surrounded by the resulting smoke with his palm resting mere millimeters above the flickering fire created as the paper burned. The fire seemed at points to lick his skin, but he remained unbothered by the heat.

“Its warm but it doesn’t hurt” he said outloud.

“Well I guess we can add minor heat resistance to the list though now might not be a good time to test that particular limit” offered Dr. Penderghast-Shi trying to relive the tension. Sheepishly Izuku pulled his hand back to avoid making his mom any madder than she looked. It was then that Izuku noticed something with his smoke stores.

 _I think I’m about where I was at after Kacchan and the tree bark but, that doesn’t feel like the end._ thought Izuku. “Uh, Doctor Pen-Pen-Pendergust?" Izuku began, unable to pronounce the doctor's name. "Could we make the smoke bigger somehow? I think I can absorb more than this.” He stated with a wavering confidence.

“Well okay, Izuku, but you have to let us know if it becomes too much” replied Dr. Pendeghast-Shi.

She opted to use the more flammable coffee filters to burn, causing a plume of black smoke to come out of the fire roughly the size of her head. Whereas the prior wisps had lazily drifted towards Izuku this dark cloud practically raced towards Izuku’s outstretched hand who absorbed it near instantaneously with a small yelp.

 _Woah that feels different! There’s a lot of energy in this smoke. I can feel it. I feel better than I did after the energy bar!. Oh, this feels like I’m much closer to full._ “Woah ok I think I’m almost full” Izuku stated aloud.

The doctor promptly turned the burner off. Izuku continued absorbing more smoke but after a second felt he could take no more. This corresponded to the smoke no longer entering his skin. The paper continued to burn meanwhile creating more smoke which filled the plexiglass container without Izuku there to drain it away. As he stepped away, Inko used the fire extinguisher to put out the smoldering charcoal that was once a pile of paper before Dr. Penderghast-Shi sealed the remaining smoke in the container. Based on her best estimates, Dr. Pendeghast-Shi placed Izuku’s smoke limit at a volume roughly a fifth of his size. Addding to her notes on Izuku’s quirk she thought,

 _I see he has a hard limit too. His quirk stopped working to pull in smoke after he reached it._ “Okay Izuku how do you feel?”

“I feel great doctor, I feel faster and lighter now. Almost like I took a nice nap.” He replied

“Oh really?” she said. “Well give me a moment to collect my notes before we start testing your Smoke shot at the target range. After that we'll see if we can’t recreate that Smoke Bomb from this morning huh?”

Izuku, feeling giddy from the energy his quirk gave him, Smoke Dashed back over to the punching bag while he waited. He threw a few light jabs at it and Smoke Dashed around it again to hit it from the other side. He began to imagine himself as a hero like All Might, taking on bad guys with his quirk. This drew the eye of Dr. Penderghast-Shi.

 _Interesting he just used two Dashes bringing himself up to five without a proper break to replenish his energy. Yet he doesn’t seem tired. Increased stamina with increased smoke in storage?_ Dr. Penderghast-Shi mused, jotting her observations in her notes while Izuku was busy pretending the punching bag was a villain and he was All Might there to save the day. “Okay dear, whenever you’re ready.” Dr. Penderghast-Shi said to Izuku who got into position five meters away from the painted targets.

These targets were a trio of red bullseyes with ten rings spaced about ten centimeters apart with each ring being about one centimeter wide . Points were allocated along their rings with starting from ten in the center and ending in one on the outermost ring. Focusing for a second on the energy swirling around inside him, Izuku let off another Smoke Shot from his outstretched right hand aiming for the ten point ring of the center target. The black and orange bolt of smoke left the palm of his hand traveling the five meters in roughly two seconds, but his aim was off, hitting the ring marked by four points.

 _Darn, need to try again._ Thought Izuku, who adjusted his aim by moving his right hand slightly and drawing the smoke inside him to his hand hoping to let loose another Smoke Shot. This time he hit the six point ring. He continued in this manner adjusting his aim until on the 4th shot he finally hit the ten point ring which received some applause from his mother.

“Okay Izuku, how about hitting the target with your other hand?” Dr. Penderghast-Shi asked.

Izuku wasn’t a natural lefty so he wasn't too surprised when only managed to hit the three point ring on his 1st attempt. Still he kept going with his left hand until he hit the ten point ring after 3 more more shots. From what the doctor and his mother observed, Izuku’s rate of fire was about a shot a second.

“So you can hit stationary targets moderately well. Let’s see about moving targets.” The doctor stated using her quirk to move four sheets of paper two meters in front of Izuku that moved back and forth through the air in a side to side motion reminiscent of a carnival shooting gallery.

These proved a bit harder for Izuku to hit as he needed to account for the time to both aim his shots and for the Smoke Shot to travel to the target. His missed shots went on to hit the wall behind the moving targets. He tried alternating his hands to increase his chance of hitting a target, narrowly managing to wing the side of one of the paper targets. After 11 shots without a clear hit, Izuku, now frustrated, tried firing a Smoke Shot from both hands at once. Rather than the two Smoke Shots he intended; a wave of Smoke came out of his hands. This wave of dark smoke was about the width of Izuku’s arm span with more orange embers mixed in. This wave flew half a meter from Izuku’s hands before dissipating. It reminded Izuku of the smoke clouds Bakugou’s explosions made. The difference being his wasn’t as bright nor as loud since there was no explosion at its center. While Izuku was happy to have discovered something new about his quirk, he was disappointed to realize that this latest move seemed to have eaten up the last of his smoke stores. Seeing the downturned expression on her son’s face Inko tried to cheer him up.

“Wow, Izuku” said his mother “That was very cool. Like a big blast of cinders.” She raised her arms in the imitation of a big explosion while making a silly face which got her son to smile a bit.

“I think that’s a good name. Cinder Blast.” He stated with a small smile while he doctor nodded her head in agreement. She noted it before asking

“So Izuku, how are your smoke stores, that seemed like quite a bit more smoke than you usually produce.”

“Yeah, I’m out again.” he said glumly.

“Really, then how much smoke would you say that was if you compared that blast to your normal Smoke shot.”Dr. Penderghast-Shi inquired.

Izuku thought for a second. Based on his experience with how much smoke each Smoke shot took from his stores, Izuku guessed that the Cinder blast had eaten up what would have been 5 Smoke shots.

 _It feels close to what the smoke bomb took but not the same._ He thought to himself before relaying it all back to his doctor who thought

 _Ok so, I counted 19 shots before that last blast which would put Izuku’s output as 24 smoke shots. We need to test his smoke bomb ,but it too seems to use multiple shots._ This observation once again went in to Izuku’s file. “Thank you Izuku, let’s recharge your smoke stores and test out that blast move and your smoke bombs again okay?” Izuku nodded as Inko reluctantly reached for the fire extinguisher again.

 _Definitely going to need to buy one of these for the house_ she sighed internally.

One minute and another burnt set of paper later, Izuku was recharged and ready to proceed. Stepping back over to the punching bag, and hold both hands out in front of him drew on his smoke stores which charged up in his hands briefly before creating another blast which struck the punching bag causing it to sway a little. After a second the display lit up: 200 N.

 _Ok that’s a lot bigger. I think that’s worth using five shots._ Thought Izuku excitedly.

“All right Izuku, do you think you can do another do another blast but smaller?” his doctor asked.

Izuku tried again, trying to from a smaller Cinder Blast. As the smoke swirled into his hands he found it difficult to prevent the release of the smoke. The Cinder Blast came out less focused as a result with smoke scattering moreso to the sides than forward. Even before the display lit up Izuku could tell that some smoke had been wasted due to this attempt at a narrower blast. The display lit up 120N confirming to Izuku what he had suspected. Trying to release the smoke earlier as a smaller Blast had prevented the buildup of force for the Blast, which lacked focus. Checking his storage mentally, Izuku concluded he had still used 5 shots worth of smoke for that weaker Cinder Blast. While 5 shots of smoke had been taken from his stores and drawn to his hands, not all of it had gone into powering the move resulting in a more scattered blast as the excess went to the sides. He told the doctor such who noted it in his quirk files. Eager to move on to something else, Izuku decided to switch gears for a moment.

“Okay, I’m gonna make the smoke bomb again.” He said as a warning to his mother and doctor, who took a few step backs

He pictured the smoke ball from this morning, which began to appear in his hands. He let it swell until he felt he could no longer hold the smoke sphere in his palm. _Okay, that’s definitely 6 shots worth of smoke._ Thought Izuku before lobbing the condensed sphere of smoke away from his and his companions.

After a 1 second delay the smoke ball expanded into a cloud of smoke that was the normal black and orange color of his Smoke Shot, but with a faint tint of yellow. The cloud itself had a two meter wide radius of smoke and embers. A stray wisp of this smoke drifted toward Izuku who wrinkled his nose at it.

“Ew it smells like rotten eggs” said Izuku with a grimace.

“Is that so Izuku?” asked Dr. Penderghast-Shi. “With that color and smell, your smoke bomb may have trace elements of sulfur in it.” She offered to Izuku.

“Well I guess that’s what I’ll call that move“ Izuku stated. “Sulfur Bomb. I like it” he concluded with a nod from Dr. Penderghast-Shi.

“Well if you can make one more Sulfur bomb I can take a sample of it and we can conclude our testing. We can go over your quirk and give it a name before sending you on home. Unless you can think of anything else you wish to test right now?”

Izuku shook his head. He gave Dr. Penderghast-Shi a moment to gather her supplies and proceeded to create another Sulfur bomb for the doctor to take a sample of. A few minutes later, Inko, Izuku and the doctor convened in the doctor’s office to go over the day’s tests.

“Well from what I’ve seen, I think the first thing we can say is that Izuku’s quirk will fall under the classification of Transformation-Emitter due to its hybrid nature.” The doctor stated. “Looking at the transformation aspects first, Izuku can turn into smoke at the cost of stamina and move while in this form which Izuku has called his Smoke Dash. While low on smoke, he’ll lose more stamina needing a nap after four dashes. Luckily this can be amended by Izuku absorbing more smoke. I also noticed that Izuku’s transformation seems to begin with his hands, and he emits smoke from his hands as well. Most likely this is derived from your quirk Mrs. Midoriya which also necessitates hand movements.”

Inko nodded in agreement

“His transformation affects inorganic materials in his grasp but doesn’t affect other people. His quirk also lets him absorb smoke into his person. His quirk factor provides him with the necessary heat resistance to take in smoke without suffering thermal damage. This is most likely from your husband’s quirk." she stated. " Now, Izuku can channel the smoke in his body and release it in various bursts but has no control of the smoke itself once it has left his hands nor can he control the source of the smoke in any way. He also can’t generate any more naturally, so he will be reliant on outside sources to restock his smoke stores which as of now consists of 24 rounds of Smoke Shot. For 5 shots worth of smoke, Izuku can instead create a Cinder Blast or for 6 shots a Sulfur Bomb. Does that sound like an accurate summary Izuku?” Izuku nodded his head to confirm. “Ok, so that last thing on today’s agenda is what name to give it.”

“ What about just ‘Smoke’?” offered Inko trying to keep it simple.

“No,” was Izuku’s reply who wanted something cooler.

“Smoke battery?” Inko rebutted.

“Hmm closer, but it makes me sound like I have shock powers.” Came Izuku’s rejection. “I can store smoke inside and let it go, but really I’m just making a path for the smoke to go." Said Izuku deep in thought.

“Well what about ‘Smoke Conduit’?” offered Dr. Penderghast-shi.

“What does 'conduit' mean?” asked Izuku, unfamiliar with the term.

“Well a conduit is a channel, either natural or made by people that something can flow through. Like an electrical conduit passes electricity, a pipe acts as conduit for water, or in your case a conduit for smoke.” She explained. Izuku liked it.

“Yeah Smoke Conduit fits perfectly. Thank you!” 

“Well, then that’s that. I’ll add it to your quirk file and your quirk will be officially registered by this evening. I'll give you a copy to take back to school.” She stated with a smile. Inko and Izuku stood up and gave a neat bow to Dr. Penderghast-Shi thanking her for her time and for registering Izuku’s quirk. As Inko took her son’s hand and began to walk away, Izuku stopped for a second and turned to the kind doctor.

“Doctor, do.. do you think I can use my quirk to be a hero?” he said with hopeful eyes. Inko looked on with curious gaze, ready to stop her if she said something that would hurt Izuku. Doctor Penderghast-Shi stopped for a second and bent down to look Izuku in the eyes.

“ Yes.” Was the reply. Thinking of the thousands of children who hoped to be heroes these days, excited to beat up bad guys like their idols on tv, she continued. “ It won’t be easy, but nothing ever is.” She answered honestly “But, at the end of the day, I think the important thing isn’t your quirk, it’s you. Every quirk has its use, but with your quirk you’ll need to be mindful of others and not use your smoke wildly or you could make them sick.” She warned “Never forget that heroes are meant to save people, your quirk means nothing if you can’t find a way to put more good into the world than bad.” She finished.

Izuku nodded his head vigorously. 

“I wanna be like All-Might. He makes people feel safe. That’s the hero I what I want to be.”

Satisfied with his answer Dr. Penderghast-Shi stood up and waved goodbye with a kind smile as the green haired mother and son walked out of her office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that chapter took me a bit longer than I expected. Again Izuku doesn't have access to the full smoke tree from the game nor the upgrades at the moment. For those wondering where I got the exact specifics of how strong Izuku's Smoke shots are, the short answer is I made it up.  
> Longer answer is unfortunately neither the game nor the wiki provide a lot of detail on this so I had to test things out myself in game and do some math. From my own testing Smoke shot (with max stats and a full tank of smoke) can be used around 180 times in an 8 round burst with good karma. (Evil Karma gives better fire rate) This takes out civilians in 3 shots or the super powered DUP soldiers in roughly 20-30 shots. Cinder Blast can be used around 36 times and Sulfur Bomb 30 times. (From full smoke stores) Using 3000 Newtons as a rough estimate for the force it requires to break a bone/knock somebody out I'm placing Delsin's smoke shots in the 1000 N range. Obviously this would be overpowered for a 4 year old, not to mention the other powers in the smoke tree which I have yet to showcase. So I tried to limit the strength and number of shots in storage to what I thought would be applicable for a child but not too OP for now. I also changed a bit of the power's limitations to explain why Smoke users can transform their clothes but seemingly never other materials like when Delsin gets concrete shackles around his hands and has to walk around slowly. *facepalm*  
> I figured the proximity and organic limitations would be why Izuku couldn't always just Smoke Dash himself and others out of danger. This way he'd just take his shackles with him and be unable to take another person along for the ride.  
> Quirks are like muscles however, and so Izuku will improve his shot capacity and discover new things along the way. :)
> 
> Name: Izuku Midoriya  
> Quirk Name: Smoke Conduit  
> Quirk Type: Transformation/Emitter Hybrid  
> Abilities: Smoke Drain, Smoke Dash, Sulfur Bomb, Smoke Shot
> 
> P.S. The major difficulty with this chapter that I found as a novice writer was trying to come up with an easy to follow system to distinguish between character's speech and thoughts especially when there are multiple people in a scene. I understand it could be confusing to follow/ tedious for me to have to reword he said/she said after major stretches of speech or thought bubbles. I hope what I've written so far is clear enough to follow but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has some formatting tricks and tips. 
> 
> P.P.S. I have some exams coming up this week so progress might be slow but I hope to get another short chapter in sometime next weekend.


	4. A Difference of Opinion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inko and Izuku talk with his dad and Izuku returns to school.

Hisashi Midoriya was awoken by his phone notifying him of an incoming video call from his wife. Groggily glancing at the alarm clock next to his nightstand he made out a blurry 3:13 AM coming from the red display. Being in California, which was 16 hours behind Japan, meant that he often would be awoken around this time when Inko and Izuku were home in the evening. Not that he was really bothered by the interruption. Working overseas as a diplomat meant he didn’t get to see them as often as he liked, so he’d take any opportunity he could get to talk to his wife and son. Clearing his throat and shaking the drowsiness out of his system he accepted the call.

“Hi, Honey” he said.

“Oops, did we wake you dear?” giggled Inko noticing her husband’s bedhead.

“Well, yes ,but you know I would never not answer, no matter when you called” came Hisashi’s honest reply. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well Izuku here has a little surprise for you. Go ahead and show him sweetie.” Said Inko turning the camera towards the living room. It was at this point that child in question bounced into frame, clearly eager to show off his surprise. With a wave towards his dad he Smoke Dashed from one side of the living room to the other.

“Look daddy, I got my quirk today!” Beamed the proud Izuku.

“Woah, sport, that looked awesome! What was that?!” asked Hisashi, half elated for his son and half confused seeing as Izuku had a quirk that acted nothing like his or his wife’s. Now Hisashi was wide awake. “Clearly I’ve missed a lot today. Mind filling me in?”

And so Izuku did, retelling his day from pre-school up to the trip to the doctor’s. Inko interjected her point of view here to explain Izuku’s quirk in more depth with the science behind it that had gone over Izuku’s head. Izuku demonstrated Smoke Dash once more and fired a smoke shot into the kitchen sink with his mother’s begrudging approval. For his Sulfur bomb and Cinder Blast however, Inko put her foot down.

  
“Oh no, young man, you are not making a mess in here after I just cleaned up this house!” she said sternly.

“But, mom…” Izuku began before Hisashi interjected.

“Son, trust me, there is one thing in this world you don’t want to do, and that’s make your mama mad.” Hisashi said with a knowing shudder. Even thousands of miles away he knew better than to get on his wife’s bad side.

So Izuku settled for just talking up a storm about what it felt like to use his smoke stores and creating a Cinder Blast or Sulfur Bomb. After going on for nearly an hour, in conjunction with using Smoke Dash without recharges, the child found himself nodding off which cued Inko and her husband that it was time for Izuku to go to bed. After saying goodnight to his son, Hisashi stayed on the line a bit longer to speak with his wife.

“Well, it certainly seemed like you two had quite a day. How are you feeling dear?” Hisashi asked

Inko sighed.

  
“Okay, all things considered.” Inko sighed. “ I’ve been stressing over how I’m gonna fireproof the apartment. But Izuku’s energy has made it easier to not get bogged down by the details.” She said with a small smile. “He’s just so excited that he finally got his quirk.”

“You could say that again, kid looked like he had 6 espresso shots.” Hisashi said with a hearty chuckle.

“With the caffeine crash to boot.” Inko replied with light laugh. “But, it makes sense, he’s had a busy day and his quirk drains his stamina.”

“Speaking of his quirk, I concede you have the lead in our little game for now. But I think I’ll tie it back up soon!” Hisashi declared confidently.

“Hmm how so?” questioned Inko. “I thought we were already tied. Since he doesn’t really have just one of our quirks, I gave us both a point.”

“Well, that’s true, in which case we’d be tied at three points. But, I think you’re forgetting that you get a point for finding out his quirk before I did!” Hisashi exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, I did forget that.” Said Inko mentally adjusting her tally to four. “Are you jealous dear?” Inko asked.

“No… not really.” Said Hisashi, not looking directly at the screen.

_Oh he totally is._ Thought Inko with a smug grin.

“R-regardless, I know he’ll love my present more this year so I should get a point for ‘Best present ever’ ” Hisashi hastily retorted.

Inko nearly snorted. “Oh yeah good luck with that. I’ve got the new All Might plushie and pajama set on backorder. No way you’re topping that unless you’ve got All Might’s signature itself!”Inko said confident in her victory.

Hisashi just smiled at the camera.  
“…….”

“No way! You didn’t! It’s not possible” Inko said, her confidence wavering.

“Oh never say impossible dear. But I don’t want to spoil the surprise. We’ll just see come this July” Hisashi said with a gloating look.

“Hmph fine then. Love you dear, get some sleep.” Said Inko with a sigh.

“Love ya too honey” said Hisashi with a yawn as he hung up.  
************************************************************************************

The next morning was an exciting one for Izuku. He couldn’t wait to show off his quirk to Kacchan. He was practically bouncing in his seat as him mom drove him to his pre-school. He was escorted to the front entrance by his mother who gave him a copy of his quirk registration to hand in to his teachers. As soon as he entered the building, he was off to find his classroom with a quick wave goodbye.  
He made it to his classroom where he was greeted by Ms. Tamaki.  
“Hello, Izuku its good to see you again. How did the doctor visit go?” she asked.

“Oh, Hi Tamaki-Sensei. It went good. I know how to use my quirk now! My doctor says I’m a conduit for smoke! I can move it around by shooting it out of my hands!” he responded excitedly handing in his quirk registration. Ms. Tamaki glanced over his file taking in the name and classification.

“Well, that’s good, so no more accidents then?” she questioned.

“Yup, I’m good now.” Izuku responded. “ I know how to release it when I want to now. I’m not gonna make any more accidents. I’m gonna be a hero and help people.” He said seriously

“Well, here’s hoping. Why don’t you go join your friends, we’re just about to start finger painting. You can tell them about your quirk.” She offered supportively.

“Yeah, that sounds fun!” he shouted excitedly going off to join his friends.

He found Bakugou and Tsubasa arguing over which one got to use the red paint. They were supposed to be making self-portraits and each one wanted it for their picture.

“C’mon my WINGS are red. I should go first!” Cried out Tsubasa with a flap of his wings for emphasis.

“Yeah, but my explosions have red in them. And so are my eyes! So, I’ve got 2 reasons to go first.” Responded Bakugou sparking his hands to make his point.

They were clearly getting nowhere, so Izuku joined in by Smoke Dashing in between them.  
“Hey guys, why don’t you just share?” he suggested.

“Bah, Jeez Deku. Don’t scare us like that!” Yelled Tsubasa who had nearly fallen over from the sudden surprise.

“Yo Deku, did you figure your quirk out?” questioned Bakugou cooly.

“Yup sure did. I can tell you more but first, why can’t you guys just share?” Izuku asked again while setting up his own paint station.

“Share?” they both questioned Izuku.

“Yeah just put the paint in between you two. You can both use it.” He offered with a smile.

Bakugou and Tsubasa glanced at each other before turning back to answer Izuku.

“Nah” came the unified response.

Izuku shook his head and got to work on his own painting. In the end it came to a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide the user of the red paint, where Bakugou won with rock to Tsubasa’s scissors. As they were painting, Izuku caught them up on what his doctor told him about his quirk, including its name.

“Conduit? What’s that mean?” asked Tsubasa who was using the orange paint for his wings.

“It means he can channel his smoke out like water through pipes. Weren’t you listening?” said Bakugou adding the finishing touches to his painting.

“Yup, although once I let it go, I don’t control the smoke anymore.” Izuku responded.

“Ahh, so you can’t make anymore?” Questioned Tsubasa. “Seems lame.”

“Hey, its not lame!” said Izuku defensively.

Secretly, Bakugou agreed with Tsubasa. _He needs other people to fuel his Quirk. Totally lame. But he could be a great sidekick if he absorbs smoke from my explosions. Depends on how strong his shots are._ He thought to himself. Speaking out loud:

“Hmm, well what I want to know is how strong that Cinder Blast move is.”

“Of course, you’d only care about strength” said Tsubasa under his breath

“Why wouldn’t I? Strength is what makes a hero!” bit back Bakugou.

Izuku thought back to his doctor’s words.

“Heroes are supposed to save people. Strength is good, I guess. But you gotta do mor…” Began Izuku

“Nah, strength is everything. All Might never gives up and he never loses. No one is weaker than All Might and that’s why he’s number one!” Bakugou interrupted.

Izuku wanted to argue but thought better of it. _Once Kacchan is sure of something there’s no changing his mind._ Instead he just sighed.

“If you say so Kacchan. I can show more of my quirk at recess. I don’t want to get in trouble again.” Izuku said sheepishly.

“Yeah, yeah. I get that. How many shots do you have left anyhow?” asked Bakugou.

“Uhh, I think 5. Just enough for 1 Cinder Blast. I’ll need more smoke after that” Said Izuku.

“Okay, I can take care of that.” Said Bakugou flaring his quirk for emphasis.

A few hours later and it was time for recess. The trio found a secluded corner of the playground by the tree which had been the catalyst for Izuku’s quirk. Under the eye of Bakugou and Tsubasa, Izuku turned towards the tree and let loose the last of his smoke with a Cinder Blast. The orange and black cloud of smoke plumed outward and struck the tree. The branches seemed to shake slightly, with a coating of soot on the bark facing the boys. To Bakugou, Izuku’s quirk seemed showy, but lacked the firepower to back it up.

“Well, that’s all I got.” Izuku said facing the two.

“Hmm, it kinda looks like Bakugou’s explosions. Just missing the **big bang**!” remarked Tsubasa with an added emphasis on the exlplosive nature of Katsuki’s quirk.

“What no way. He barely even scratched the tree. My explosions are way stronger than that!” Said an indignant Bakugou, confident in his earlier assessment of Izuku’s quirk. “And I’ve got a way to prove it too.”

With that Bakugou walked over to the tree and climbed up to the lowest branch he could reach which hung about 1 meter off the ground. He placed his hand on the branch where it met the trunk using his quirk to blast off the branch, which landed on the ground, slightly charred and giving off faint wisps of smoke.

“There try that out Smokey!” said Bakugou gesturing to the branch.

Izuku walked up to the branch as directed and held his hand out activating the passive Smoke Drain his quirk allowed. As the smoke entered his body, he mentally counted how many shots he was receiving. He concluded that the branch had given him another 8 shots worth, which he relayed to Bakugou.

“Only 8? You’re quirk is kinda greedy huh?” came Bakugou’s response. “Well I need you to be in top shape for this test so here” Bakugou said once more using his quirk on the branch. This darkened the branch further which gave off plumes of smoke that Izuku would absorb as quickly as they generated. They did this once more until Izuku was once again at full smoke stores. Afterwards, Izuku made sure to smother the smoldering branch by burying it with sand from the nearby sandbox.

“Ok so what’s this test Kacchan?” Izuku asked.

Bakugou’s response was straight forward and aggressive, much like the child himself. Holding his hands out in front of him he looked Izuku dead in the eyes and said:

“Simple, you’re gonna fight me. Right here, right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. Sorry about the longer wait folks, this chapter took longer to get done than I anticipated. Studying for midterms really sucked up my energy this past week. Made it hard to get into the writing mindset. If you've ever seen that episode of Spongebob where he just stares at the word "The" for a while, you should have a pretty good idea how my week went. 
> 
> But, good news, I'm mostly over that hill, and I used the extra time bit of time to work out a rough outline for the next 5 chapters. So this series won't be disappearing anytime soon! *Knock on wood*
> 
> After reading suggestions from those of you in the comments, I tried to format the dialouge differently this chapter to better break up who was talking. I guess time will tell if I was successful or not.  
> If the style change agrees with people, I'll update the other chapters to this style when I post chapter 5 sometime in the next week. If not I'll rework the format between now and then with your feedback. Please feel free to critique any problems you have so far. It really does help. :) 
> 
> Name: Izuku Midoriya  
> Quirk Name: Smoke Conduit  
> Quirk Type: Transformation/Emitter Hybrid  
> Abilities: Smoke Drain, Smoke Dash, Sulfur Bomb


	5. Deku vs. Kacchan: Round One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku and Bakugou have a quirk fight to test his might. New discoveries and unintended consequences abound.

“W-what?!” was Izuku’s panicked response. “We can’t fight! If we hurt each other we’ll get in trouble!” he stated while emphatically waving his arms and shaking his head.

“Nah, we won’t. You can’t hurt me and I’ll go easy on you. We’re not hurting anyone” Came Bakugou’s reply. “Tsubasa can be our referee. It’ll be light sparring. He’ll say if we need to stop” He said pointing to the other boy.

Tsubasa just shrugged his shoulders and began flapping his wings to stay hovering nearby. Bakugou was confident that he had the stronger quirk and thus he could win. This was about more than just testing Izuku’s capabilities for him. This was also be a chance to show off his own power. Ever since his quirk came in, all the praises and cheering of his quirk had gone to Bakugou’s head and fostered a sense of superiority in the young boy. In his mind the teachers had no reason to punish the hero in the making for a bit of playful quirk use.

_My quirk is just that good._ He thought to himself. _Even the teachers think it’s a hero’s quirk! No one even comes close to me. Deku’s quirk is flashy, but it lacks power! I’ll prove what real strength is._

“B-but, why do we have to fight?” asked Izuku still unsure that he wanted to battle.

“Because a hero is strong, and we need to see how strong you are.” responded an annoyed Bakugou as if the answer were obvious. “Don’t you want to see what you can do as a hero?”

“I mean I guess that’s true, but…” Izuku started before being interrupted.

“ **Ok,** let’s go!” exclaimed Bakugou who charged at Izuku fists sparking with the telltale signs of his quirk.

Izuku yelped and Smoked Dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding Bakugou’s right hand, which struck the empty space. He had gone in to hit Izuku with a small explosion from his palm. At this point in time, his explosions weren’t that large in terms of size, on the order of a small firecracker, so Bakugou had instinctively tried to close the gap.

“Woah Kacchan I wasn’t ready ” pleaded Izuku.

“There is no ‘ready’ in fighting!” cried out Bakugou already turning to strike Izuku. 

Izuku simply Dashed once more once, avoiding Bakugou’s explosion powered palm which created a small smokeless explosion in the air where Izuku just was. Unfortunately for him, Bakugou was relentless and took another swing with his left arm forcing Izuku to Dash again to avoid the hit. Approaching his four Dash limit without rest was beginning to tire Izuku out, who could feel the telltale drowsiness that came with overuse of his quirk. 

“Stop running and come at me!” called out a frustrated Bakugou.

“Fine. Have it your way” Izuku responded.

Knowing he couldn’t avoid the boy forever, Izuku raised his right hand and fired off a Smoke Shot at Bakugou aiming for his chest to hold him at bay.The shot struck true, but was not enough of a deterrent, as Bakugou continued forward returning the favor by slapping Izuku on the shoulder with a small **BOOM**. The resulting explosion pushed Izuku back half a meter who stumbled before falling over onto his back with a small hole on his shirt, lightly smoking around the edges.

“Hey time out!” Came the warning call of Tsubasa.

Bakugou could see Izuku’s shoulder from where he stood. Izuku, while dazed, looked unhurt to him, but he decided to hold back just in case. Izuku sat up, inspecting himself for damage.

_Ouch. Well I’m not burned I think. Thanks Dad. But Kacchan’s explosions hit harder than my Smoke Shot for sure._ Thought Izuku who immediately began using his quirk to drain away a singular wisp from the burnt portion of his shirt. It wasn’t enough to replace the Smoke Shot but it did help ease the drowsiness. He felt that it gave him maybe one more Dash. Meanwhile, Bakugou was going over his own body.

_Hmm that felt like a good punch. Not bad, but one’s not good enough to stop me._ He thought with a manic grin. “You ready to go again, Smoky?” he taunted.

“Yeah, yeah” said Izuku who was now getting geared up.

This time it was Izuku who went on the offensive, launching Smoke Shots as fast as he could make them at Bakugou. The explosion user tanked 3 shots directly while running toward Izuku before he was able to move to the side of the 4th. Izuku began strafing to his left toward the tree, releasing more shots while trying to keep distance between himself and Bakugou. His training with the moving targets in mind, Izuku adjusted his aim to be ahead of Bakugou in an attempt to lead his shots. This offered mild success as 2 shots struck Bakugou while 3 more shots sailed past him. All the while he inched closer to Izuku.

When he was within arm’s reach of Izuku, Bakugou lunged out hoping to get in another hit. Izuku used his remaining Dash to dodge to the right of Bakugou. Bakugou’s outstretched hand struck the tree, which with a resounding **CRACK** , blasted off another piece of bark. Bakugou pulled his hand back wincing slightly at the pain of having slapped the tree trunk. Taking advantage of this, Izuku tried to restock his smoke stores off the smoldering bark lying between them. He managed to siphon off another 2 shots worth of smoke before his left wrist was grabbed by Bakugou.

“Gotcha!” cried out Bakugou who hit Izuku in the side with another explosion powered palm strike.

“Ugh” cried out Izuku trying unsuccessfully to Dash away.

Izuku had been correct in his earlier assessment. His quirk protected him from getting burned by Bakugou but it didn’t stop the kinetic force of the combustion, which to Izuku felt like he was being hit by a kid four times his size.Thanks to Bakugou’s hold on him the familiar anchor weight was back and he was firmly rooted in place. Knowing that it would take multiple shots to get Bakugou to let go, and seeing no other way to escape his grip, Izuku turned himself towards Bakugou and released a Cinder Blast towards the boy’s stomach. The resulting blast had the desired effect, knocking the wind out of Bakugou who nearly coughed up his lunch as he inadvertently released Izuku. The two fell backwards away from each other with Tsubasa nervously watching to see what happened next.

Bakugou was the first to stand back up, though Izuku did not trail too far behind in this regard. Bakugou wiped away some spit from the corner of his mouth, while Izuku brushed down his shirt of dust and cinders.

“Now **that** was a hit Deku!” called out Bakugou, now mildly impressed. “How much more you got in ya, Cuz I think I counted 11 shots!.” Cackled Bakugou, who had counted correctly but forgot that Cinder Blast accounted for 5 of Deku’s regular shots.

“Not telling.” Said Izuku defiantly while feeling out his smoke stores. _Kacchan’s like a wild animal looking for a weakness. Can’t let him know I’m down to less than half._

“Then I guess I’ll have to go PLUS ULTRA until you’ve got nothing left!” cackled Bakugou who began to charge at the green haired child.

Unnoticed till this point, their match had drawn the attention of the other children at recess. Most had been curious as to the source of the loud sound that had occurred when Bakugou had struck Izuku the first time and thus were drawn to the edge of the playground. While a few older students went off to grab a teacher, seven others stayed to watch, forming a circle to observe the spectacle. This included students like Moru and Yūrei who watched amazed as the usually useless Deku actually seemed to hold his own against the previously undisputed king of the playground.

“Wait, why are they fighting?” asked one student, a boy by the name of Abe.

“I don’t know, but Woah look at Deku go!” cheered on Moru to the sight of Izuku letting loose a volley of 4 more Smoke Shots at Bakugou.

“He might actually win this.” Decreed Yūrei watching as Bakugou went on the defensive raising his arms to block against Izuku’s Smoke Shots.

This last point had been overheard by Bakugou, whose ego did not take kindly to the idea of anyone, especially Deku of all people, beating him in anything. Spurred on by a desire to win above all else, Bakugou charged directly at Izuku with his arms raised in front to shield him from Izuku’s attacks. Izuku let loose 2 more Smoke Shots ,but one missed Bakugou completely ,while the other hit his shoulder doing nothing to slow him down. With no other option and Bakugou about to reach him, Izuku used the last of his smoke stores to fire a Cinder Blast at Bakugou as a last minute Hail Mary. The Blast kicked up a cloud of dust as it struck some loose dirt on the playground creating a brownish-black cloud of dirt, dust, and smoke that obscured Bakugou from sight. For a moment, all waited with bated breath to see if Bakugou would emerge. 

Unfortunately for Izuku, Bakugou’s anticipation of the attack allowed him to brace for the impact. This time around he was not stunned nor pushed back, and after a second of recovery Bakugou pushed through the cloud. Reaching Izuku he tagged the boy’s exposed arm with his palm, careful not to burn the smoking child’s shirt any further thus fueling the boy’s quirk. This once again knocked Izuku over onto his back. Bakugou stepped over him placing one hand on his shoulder to lock Izuku in place, the other hand in the air as a show of force, palm sparking.

Even if he could escape Bakugou’s grip, Izuku felt he only had the energy left in him for one last Smoke Dash at which point he would lose anyway, having neither the energy to fight back nor the smoke to fight with.

“Fine, you, win Kacchan”

“Damn, right I do.” Was Bakugou’s cocky reply. “But, you aren’t so useless yourself, Deku” he said as he switched to offer a hand to pull Izuku up. “ Not as good as me of course, but you could be my sidekick maybe. Together we’ll kick butt as the number one hero and his number two.”

“Yeah sure Kacchan” said Izuku slightly annoyed by the sidekick comment, but slightly glad Bakugou thought he could be a hero too. He was about to take Bakugou’s hand when he heard someone singing.

“ _Hush now little baby, don’t say a word, mama’s gonna buy you…”_ sang a female voice.

_“_ Hey do you hear that…” began both boys before promptly being washed over by heavy fog that drifted into their minds. It was hard to see anything more than a few steps in front of them, although the ethereal sound of the songstress could still be heard loud and clear in Izuku’s head , urging him to stay still. Both stood still as statues, before two nets ensnared both of them separately, lifting them ever so slightly off the ground and away from one another.

As they were carried forward, out of the corner of his eye, Izuku noticed two things in the fog. For the first time he took note of the crowd of students that had gathered to watch their match. Each had the same glazed look on their faces, like they had just woken up from a nap. The second thing Izuku observed was his two teachers parting the crowd with stern looks on their faces. Ms. Tamaki was standing still with her lips pursed, but even still, Izuku could tell the song was her doing. Meanwhile Mr. Yamaguchi appeared to be using his quirk to physically lead all the student’s back to class with some sort of network of strings. The center point of these tethers seemed to be coming from a pouch on his side and looked like silk.

A few moments earlier…. 

“Sensei, Bakugou is beating up Deku!” cried a student to Ms. Tamaki.

“Eh, that’s a serious accusation young man.” Tamaki-Sensei responded tensely. _And who is Deku?_ she wondered privately. “Are you sure Bakugou is fighting?”

“Yes! They’re hitting each other with their quirks! Its crazy!” the boy exclaimed, desperate to communicate the urgency of the situation.

This caught Tamaki’s attention, quirk use with intent to cause harm was a very serious offense and not one to be taken lightly. And Bakugou’s quirk could cause serious harm if used haphazardly.

“Alright young man where are they?”

After being informed of the location, Tamaki sensei rushed outside where she ran into Mr. Yamaguchi, who too had been similarly informed of a quirk fight. Together the two raced across the playground. About halfway across the grounds, the two caught the sight of the crowd surrounding the two boys. From there they witnessed the tail end of the fight, with Bakugou standing over Izuku with his hand ready to let loose another explosion. At this distance the two could not hear the conversation going on between the two boys, and jumped to the conclusion that Izuku was being bullied for some reason or another.Both teachers turned to each other in silent agreement to regain control of the situation. Ms. Tamaki passed a set of ear plugs to Mr. Yamaguchi to shield him from her quirk while Yamaguchi began pulling silk threads from a pouch on his side.

First up was Ms. Tamaki with her quirk: Siren Song which turned any lullaby she sang into a calming charm. This would result in a phantom voice entering the mind of anyone in earshot, bringing all minds within her grasp and placing a mental fog in their minds with no choice but to focus their eyes in her direction. For the next five minutes, anyone who heard her would be unable to do much more than walk at a slow pace with arms hung at their side. In all honesty, she would rather have avoided its use if she could, for while not the strongest mind altering quirk out there, it still was one at heart, earning her a lot of ridicule in her younger years from other people afraid she would use her voice to command them to do something against their will. This was in spite of the fact that she could offer no specific commands other than ‘Follow’ or ‘Stay’ . It took time to kick in too, so in theory it could be resisted fairly easily if one had the foresight to drown out her singing or block it out entirely as soon as you heard her start singing. Nevertheless, Tamaki Sensei used the quirk to calm the crowd and the two in the center. In her mind she asked the crowd of students to follow her while urging Bakugou and Midoriya to stay put. 

Next up was Yamaguchi sensei who used his quirk: Silk Road to telepathically control threads of silk which he used to form a web of strings that he hoped to use to coral the now dazed children back towards class like sheep to a barn. He also formed two nets, akin in size and shape to a volleyball net, which scooped up the young Bakugou and Midoriya independently restraining them, while simultaneously holding them off the ground by about 10 centimeters.

Back to the present…..

Izuku held aloft in the net, was being carried back to class and struggling to focus on anything other than the sound of his teacher’s voice which played in all directions in his head, despite the fact that the real Tamaki, who was standing 50 centimeters in front of him, seemed to no longer be speaking as she walked alongside Yamaguchi-sensei.

“Unbelievable, a quirk fight! In this day and age.” Complained Yamaguchi. “ I know they’re just children, and showing off one’s quirk is to be expected, but violence is never acceptable!” He continued. 

Tamaki just nodded, allowing Yamaguchi to continue his inevitable rant. She chose not to speak so as to focus on maintaining her quirk for its maximum duration. Controlling the minds of multiple people, even children, was tiring and she didn’t want to expend extra energy right now. Not that he could hear her anyway since he still had the ear plugs, which, now that she was no longer singing, were quite unnecessary.

“You know it’s a real shame too, young Bakugou showed real promise. But someone who bullies others with his quirk could never be a hero.” Yamaguchi continued. “I’m going to have to call his mother, I don’t think I want to be in charge of a villain. He’ll need quirk counseling of course, but he’ll still be expelled from here. Quirk violence on one’s record at such a young age, it really is a damn shame.” 

This last bit was loud enough to be caught by Izuku through the fog and the ghostly singing echoing in his mind.

_Bully?! Expelled! Villain?! But Bakugou was trying to help me with my quirk. No, no! We’re gonna be heroes!_ He thought concerned for his best friend’s future. He struggled against the netting but found he could only slightly shift his legs. _If only I could talk. I could tell them its not his fault._ He thought with tears in his eyes. _But I can barely wiggle my legs._

Izuku continued to struggle desperately hoping that he could escape his confines. Just then, two things occurred. The first was that Izuku Smoke Dashed out of the netting, floating in the air for one glorious second before landing face first in the dirt. The second was that Ms. Tamaki suddenly felt a sharp migraine, the kind she associated with overuse of her quirk. For a brief moment, it was as if she had tried to control a crowd of thousands despite only using her quirk on 10 children. Taking a moment to recover, she felt out mentally, and realized she was now only controlling 9 children. She turned back to see young Izuku, who was picking himself back up and brushing dirt out his mouth.

“W-wait” he managed to stammer out through a cough. “Kacchan isn’t a bad guy! He was trying to help me use my quirk!” He spat out, now clear from fog that had earlier silenced him.

“Izuku? How did - wait no nevermind. What do you mean, wasn’t Bakugou hurting you?” asked a confused Tamaki. She mentally urged the students to stop walking while tapping Yamaguchi to get his attention as well, who turned surprised to see that Izuku had escaped his grip unnoticed. He removed his ear plugs as Izuku continued. 

“Well he did hurt me a little I guess, but it wasn’t serious!” He exclaimed. “He asked me to fight so we could see how strong my quirk was. I said yes, please don’t expel him!” He squeaked out. “ We weren’t being serious, he’s not a villain, he said we could be heroes!” Izuku stated, attempting to turn the situation around. Technically, he had never said yes, but being swept in the moment that didn't occur to him.

“But he still asked you to fight first?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Well yes.. but” Izuku began.

“Initating a fight on school grounds is a big offense young man, he could still get in a lot of trouble” Yamaguchi stated unflinchingly.

“B-b-but Kacchan isn’t a bully. He’s good I promise!” said Izuku desperately, trying to defend his friends honor. He didn’t know that Bakugou had less than noble intentions in starting the fight, not that it would have mattered to him, he was a loyal friend through and through.

“Well, if that’s true maybe we can hold off on the expulsion part for now” offered Ms. Tamaki with a light groan.

Izuku looked up expectantly, a glimmer of hope building up. Yamaguchi was about to interrupt before she continued. “But we’ll still have to talk to both of you and your parents to get the full picture. I know you want to help your friend, but this is still something serious. Fighting with your quirks should never happen, even between friends. What if you had really hurt yourselves?” she asked with a serious but tired tone. Izuku had no response to that.

“For now let’s get the students back to class.” Said Yamaguchi sensei seeing that his colleague was getting more beleaguered from holding the students in place and holding a conversation.

Tamaki nodded gratefully, and Izuku followed behind them with his head held down, worried for what would happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was certainly a longer break than I expected. I honestly thought I could have this up before Halloween but here we are. Just when you think you know what you're doing life hits you with a curveball.
> 
> https://imgflip.com/i/4kov2f
> 
> Anyways here's the chapter hope you guys enjoy :)
> 
> Name: Izuku Midoriya  
> Quirk Name: Smoke Conduit  
> Quirk Type: Transformation/Emitter Hybrid  
> Abilities: Smoke Drain, Smoke Dash, Sulfur Bomb


End file.
